Tag Archives: Education and Training

Activities, Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air, Space, Youth Activities

NARS Youth Expo at Boxboro

September 18, 2018 Fred Kemmerer

The Nashua Area Radio Society put together a very successful Amateur Radio Youth Exposition at the New England Amateur Radio Convention at Boxboro this year.

Boxboro 2018 - Youth Expo Display — Boxboro 2018 – Youth Expo Display

Our Expo featured more than ten high-quality displays and hands-on activities which introduced young people to many aspects of Amateur Radio.

Boxboro 2018 - HF GOTA Coach Jerry K1OKD — Boxboro 2018 – HF GOTA Coach Jerry K1OKD

Our HF GOTA at Boxboro 2018 was a hit with many folks making their first HF contacts with us. We operated AB1OC-AB1QB’s station remotely via the Internet. We secured a the N1T special event callsign for Boxboro and we made over 150 contacts as N1T during the convention.

Boxboro 2018 - Satellite Station Operated by Burns WB1FJ — Boxboro 2018 – Satellite Station Operated by Burns WB1FJ

We also had our transportable satellite station at Boxboro and we made quite a few satellite contacts as N1T as well.

Boxboro 2018 - Space Comms Display — Boxboro 2018 – Space Comms Display

There was lots of interest in satellites between the satellite GOTA station and our Space Communications display.

Boxboro 2018 - Kit Building (Dan AC1EN and Mackenzie KE1NZY) — Boxboro 2018 – Kit Building (Dan AC1EN and Mackenzie KE1NZY)

We added a kit building activity to our Youth Expo at Boxboro and it was a big hit!

Over 40 K1EL Morse Code Tutor kits got built during the weekend with many parents and grandparents building kits along with the kids.

Boxboro 2018 - Karen KC1KBW - BGHS Teacher Building a Kit — Boxboro 2018 – Karen KC1KBW – BGHS Teacher Building a Kit

Some of our High-Altitude Balloon program students and teachers also had fun with the kit building activity.

Boxboro 2018 - Forum Presentation by Dan AC1EN — Boxboro 2018 – Forum Presentation by Dan AC1EN

We did three presentations related to the activities at our Youth Expo in the forums at Boxboro. The most popular one was about the many youth outreach projects that the Nashua Area Radio Society is doing.

Boxboro 2018 - Forum Presentation by Mackenzie KE1NZY and Fred AB1OC — Boxboro 2018 – Forum Presentation by Mackenzie KE1NZY and Fred AB1OC

Dan and Mackenzie Pooler (AC1EN and KE1NZY) helped me with this one and they brought a very valuable perspective on our youth outreach work.

Boxboro 2018 provided lots of great moments and memories for the many members who help with our Expo. Check out the photo memories above to see some more of these.

Boxboro 2018 - NARS Team at Boxboro — Boxboro 2018 – NARS Team at Boxboro

A very special THANK YOU to the many Nashua Area Radio Society members who helped throughout the weekend!

We are planning another Amateur Radio Youth Exposition as part of the New England Tech Trek at NEAR-Fest in October. Don’t miss it and please come out and help us create another great Amateur Radio experience at NEAR-Fest!

Fred, AB1OC

Activities, Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter, Youth Activities

Fall Youth Events at Boxboro and NEAR-Fest

August 22, 2018 Fred Kemmerer 1 Comment

Quite a few Nashua Area Radio Society members have been working on a display to get young people and potential new Hams interested in Amateur Radio.

NETT Youth Events: High Altitude Balloon Display — High Altitude Balloon Display

Our display was first used at NEAR-Fest this spring. It includes over ten high-quality exhibits and hands-on activities related to Amateur Radio and Nashua Area Radio Society licensing, activities, and youth projects. Some of the activities that are part of the display include:

A Shortwave Radio Station that folks can use to talk to Hams all over the world
A computer controlled Satellite Ground Station that folks can use to make a contact through a Satellite in Space
A Display about High-Altitude Balloons that carry radio transmitters to the edge of space
Keys and activities to try out sending and receiving Morse Code
Building Ham Radio Gear using Kits and Computers
A GoKit for Amateur Radio Emergency Communications that folks can try
Gear for locating Hidden Radio Transmitters (Fox Hunting)
And much more!

We’ve created a new page here on n1fd.org that explains more about our Amateur Radio Displays for Young People. Check it out!

Our Youth Event Display — Our Youth Outreach Event Display

We also provided our display as part of a youth summer program a the Westford Public Library this summer.

Thanks to a cooperative project with Steve Elliot, K1EL, we are planning to add a kit building activity to our display. The kit is a new one that Steve created for learning Morse Code. The Morse Trainer kit should take less than an hour to build and will be available to purchase and build at Boxboro. We will be providing soldering equipment and mentors to help our builders at the show.

Youth Events - Display Overview for Boxboro Convention Leaders — Youth Display Overview for Boxboro Convention Leaders

We have been working with the New England Amateur Radio Convention at Boxboro, MA to include our display in their vendor hall.

Planned Youth Events - Display Layout at Boxboro 2018 — Planned Display Layout at Boxboro 2018

The Boxboro leadership is very excited about our display and has agreed to give us approximately 90 ft of table space in the main vendor hall and space outside for our Portable Satellite Station.

Boxboro 2018 Youth Event Flyer (click to see the flyer)

Along with the Boxboro team, we are hard at work publicising our event. We’ve created an information Flyer and a short picture presentation that teachers and our members can use to let folks know about our planned event. Please take a minute to download these materials and share them with as many interested folks as you can:

It is going to take quite a few member volunteers to support our display at Boxboro 2018. If you’d be willing to help, please contact us at [email protected]. Everyone who helps will receive free admission to the Boxboro 2018 convention.

Fred, AB1OC

Activities, Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter, Youth Activities

Youth Outreach Event at the Westford Public Library

July 31, 2018 Fred Kemmerer

The folks at the Westford Public Library reached out to us sometime back about hosting an Amateur Radio Youth Outreach day at the library. This event gave us the opportunity to use the Amateur Radio Youth Outreach materials that we created for NEAR-Fest and to fine-tune them. The event took place in July and included an afternoon of presentations and hands-on activities about Amateur Radio. We had about 15 students and parents attend.

Several Nashua Area Radio Society members helped to set up and deliver the program at the library. A very big thanks to:

Brian, W1BP
Tom, AB1NS
Marie, KC1RMS
Bob, KC1RLS

for all of their help!!

Our approach was to simplify and leverage the display that we created for our Youth Outreach at NEAR-Fest. We were able to bring almost all of our displays from NEAR-Fest and simplify them to the point where we could set everything up in about 2 hours. Our displays included the following:

A Remotely Operated HF GOTA Station
A Satellite Communications Display
A Nashua Area Radio Society Activities and Licensing Display
An Emergency Communications and Field Day Display
A Portable Operating Display and Digital HF Activity
A Morse Code Display and Activity
A Fox-Hunting Display and Activity

Our program consisted of presentations and videos about each of the displays followed by hands-on activities and a chance to take a closer look.

HF Get On The Air Station at WPL Youth Outreach Day — HF Get On The Air Station

The HF Remote GOTA was popular and provided a chance for folks to talk to Hams in Europe and across the United States. We used a Maestro and the Internet to run the AB1OC/AB1OC station remotely.

High-Altitude Balloon Display at WPL Youth Outreach Day — High-Altitude Balloon Display

Our High-Altitude Balloon Display was a hit. Folks were very interested in the video presentation from our flights and they asked lots of questions about our HAB programs.

Brian, W1BP brought his Elecraft KX3 Transceiver and Buddipole Antenna and set up an FT8 Digital GOTA Station at the event. Brian’s activity provided a great way for us to explain and demonstrate portable operations.

Emergency Communications and Field Day Display at Youth Outreach Day — Emergency Communications and Field Day Display

Our third GOTA station was part of an Emergency Communications and Field Day display. The GOTA enabled everyone to try to make contacts through local repeaters and to learn about EMCOM.

Morse Code Activity at Youth Outreach Day — Morse Code Activity

Tom, AB1NS hosted our Morse Code activity. We had a variety of keys, practice oscillators, and simple code activities for folks to try.

Fox Hunt Activity at Youth Outreach Day — Fox Hunt Activity

Marie, KC1RMS hosted a Fox Hunt and demonstrated Radio Direction Finding. Members of the group were able to locate the three Foxes that we had hidden on the library grounds.

Nashua Area Radio Society and License Information Display at Youth Outreach Day — Nashua Area Radio Society and License Information Display

Our final display highlighted the many STEM learning and other training activities that the Nashua Area Radio Society provides for young people. Two of the attendees at our youth day decided to join our summer Technician License Class the following week. Maximilian, KM6UVJ, and Tatiana, KM6UVK both earned their Technician licenses at the class – congratulations to both and welcome to NARS!!!

As you can probably tell, our Amateur Radio Youth Outreach event at the Westford Public Library was a success. We are looking forward to offering similar events at other local libraries and Ham Fests later this year.

Fred, AB1OC

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide